


A Little Less Lonely

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Introspection, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 15:09:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21283724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: Jo forgets her jacket inside the UNIT lab one night.
Relationships: Third Doctor & Jo Grant
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	A Little Less Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this forever ago based on a post on Tumblr that’s no longer up. I honestly can’t remember anymore how much of this was based purely on the post and how much I made up!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :)

Jo Grant rushed into the UNIT laboratory, her lips already forming the Doctor’s name to excuse her bursting in at this hour. However, she skidded to a halt as she immediately realised that the Doctor was nowhere in sight. 

She began to wonder about the Doctor’s whereabouts, but then she remembered Mike sitting out in the cold, waiting for her, and her mind got back on track. She honed in on a chair across the room, a lump of brown fabric slumped over its back. 

As Jo began walking toward the chair, a chill gust of wind lightly tousled her hair and sent goosebumps up her arms. She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped her pace up to a quick march, glancing at the window to her right. The Doctor must have forgotten to close it. 

Jo grabbed her forgotten brown coat from the chair and shoved her arms through the sleeves, pulling the thick material around her body. She shuffled over to the window and glanced outside. The bright full moon and millions of shining stars provided enough light for her to see the shadowy outline of Mike’s car and the silhouette of Mike himself, leaning back against the front seat. The frigid air seemed to cut straight through Jo’s sleeves and wrap its icy hands around her skin. With a shiver, Jo shut the window and turned to leave. 

She made it halfway across the lab, but as soon as Jo passed the blue police box sitting in the corner, she couldn’t help but think of the Doctor again. Where was he? 

_It’ll only take a moment, _Jo thought as she darted to the doors of the TARDIS. She pushed on the handle, but the door wouldn’t budge. So, not in the TARDIS then. 

Jo pressed her lips together in a frown and turned, scanning the lab one last time. Wherever he was, the Doctor was fine. He could take care of himself, and she would see him in the morning. 

Just as her palm touched the laboratory door, a scuffling noise sounded from above. Jo bent her head back and stared at the ceiling. Then she turned around to face the lab and smiled at the window across the room. 

_Of course. _

Telling herself that Mike could wait another minute, Jo dashed back over to the window and raised the glass. She poked her head out and saw that a ledge, probably about half a foot wide, protruded from the wall just beneath the window. With no further ado, Jo stretched her right leg out of the window, her foot landing right on the ledge. She followed the procedure with her left leg, and then squeezed her upper body through the opening. Gripping the windowsill, Jo managed to look up and see the edge of the level roof around chest height. 

Slowly, Jo stretched up, balancing on her feet and hugging the wall, and grabbed onto the roof’s edge. She pulled herself up with a huff, landing on her hands and knees. Warmth radiated from the surface of the roof into her palms, and Jo realised that the heating system for the building must be up here…or, something like that. She wasn’t quite sure how the heating system worked, but she was grateful for the warmth. 

Jo crawled away from the edge a few paces before standing to her feet. Sitting in front of a giant metal cylinder embedded in the roof, nearer the opposite end, was the Doctor, his gaze trained on the night sky and a small, sad smile on his lips. 

Jo smiled, proud of herself for finding him at last. As she walked over to him, he met her eyes and attempted to smile a little more. She expected some sort of explanation, or at least a question as to what she was doing, but instead the Doctor looked back up at the sky. His smile faded and a wistful, dreamlike look came into his eyes. 

Jo felt his sadness as if it were her own. What madness it must be to remain trapped under the stars when you were meant to live among them. 

Without a word, Jo sank down next to him. The metal cylinder did seem to have something to do with the heating, because it warmed her back as she sat against it and negated the autumn night’s chill. Jo sighed with contentment, looking over at the Doctor. His head turned toward her and he was once again smiling. His hand came to rest on top of hers. Then he gazed up at the stars once more, though his smile remained; more hopeful, Jo thought. Less lonely. 

It didn’t matter that he might one day leave to see the universe again. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t stay with him forever. What mattered was that she, somehow, mattered to him, and it was at times like these where she was sure that she helped his homesickness ebb away, even if only for a little while. 

Jo smiled to herself and gazed up at the wonders of the universe with her Doctor. 

* * *

Mike Yates awoke with a shiver. He glanced at the entrance to UNIT Headquarters, willing Jo to come through the door. How long does it take to grab a coat? he wondered. 

With a sigh, Mike opened the car door and hopped out, gravel crunching under his feet as he landed. He walked into Headquarters and shivered as the air became warm. He breathed a grateful sigh and went straight to the laboratory. 

Mike pushed open the door and realised that no one was inside. He frowned at the empty room, noting that the TARDIS was still in the corner. He reached over and pushed on the handle, but it was locked. 

A cold breeze stung his cheeks and his eyes zeroed in on the open window on the other side of the room. 

“What the devil?” he muttered to himself as he strode to the window. He noticed a clearly outlined footprint on the windowsill, though it was much too big to be Jo’s. The Doctor’s, surely. And wherever the Doctor was, Jo was sure to soon follow. 

Mike pushed his upper body through the window opening and turned so that he was sitting on the windowsill. He reached his arms up and grabbed the edge of the roof, hoisting himself up so that he was now standing on the windowsill. 

On the furthest side of the roof, Jo sat curled up next to the Doctor, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. From here, Mike could tell that her eyes were closed. The Doctor looked straight at Mike, a warm smile on his face. Mike nodded slowly at the Doctor and then slid back through the window. He left it open and then strode out of the laboratory, heading back down to his car. 

Mike didn’t understand the relationship between Jo and the Doctor; Jo found the Doctor intriguing, and she loved helping him, he knew, but there was something different, something almost familial in the way she talked about him. He knew she loved him, and the Doctor loved her too, though it was in a way he couldn’t quite comprehend. 

_All I know, _Mike thought as he started up his car and drove away, _is that I’ll never be able to compete with it. _


End file.
